It’s February 2nd, time to monitor Marmota monax (on Zoom this year) and dream of winter’s end. Whether or not you believe in woodchuck weathermen, one thing is certain: you can’t have groundhogs if you want a backyard full of fresh garden veggies.
Groundhogs (aka woodchucks, whistlepigs, and marmots) are insecto-vegetarians and confirmed locavores. If you plan to plant this spring, harvest those hairy beasts now. Celebrate Groundhog Day with critter cuisine.
Serving suggestions:
Woodchuck Recipes from Michigan (Oriental Groundhog,Waco Groundhog in Sour Cream,Woodchuck Stew, Woodchuck Meat Loaf)
More groundhog lore and recipes here and here.
In his book Groundhog Day, Don Yoder reprints a classic groundhog recipe from Cooking with the Groundhog, published as a fundraiser by a hospital auxiliary in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of the “official” Groundhog’s Day Festival (there are more than a few others ). A Georgia groundhog is on Twitter.
A dozen years ago, whilst stalking the elusive picture book Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather, we espied an ad for the Range Kleen Preseasoned Cast Iron 10 Inch Fry Pan on the book’s Amazon.com page and cooked up today’s graphic. There’s obviously no “storybook ending” to this post if you’re a groundhog.
Updates:
“Milltown Mel, a celebrity groundhog, dies just before Groundhog Day,” Bill Chappell, NPR News
“Groundhogs Do Not Make Good Meteorologists,” Simran Parwani and Kaleigh Rogers, FiveThirtyEight
Related:
“Eight Things You Didn’t Know About Groundhogs,” Jason G. Goldman, Scientific American blog
“Groundhogs and Ground Squirrels: Winter Prognosticators,” Sharol Nelson-Embry, Quest
“40 years of groundhog forecasts, mapped,” Kennedy Elliott and Shelly Tan, Washington Post
“Punxsutawney Phil: incompetent — or evil?” Phil Edwards, Vox
“Depressed Groundhog Sees Shadow Of Rodent He Once Was,”The Onion
“Where Did Groundhog Day Come From? ” Mental Floss
“A Short History of Groundhog Day,” Danny Lewis, Smithsonian.com
“Groundhog Day Explained,” CGP Grey (video)
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Image (“Marmot sauté, after John James Audubon”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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